Cigarette box



Jan. 17,1967 L. T. GRAY V 3,298,590

' CIGARETTE BOX Filed April 7, 1964 INVENTOR. L.T. GRAY A T TORNE VS United States Patent 3,298,590 CIGARETTE BOX Lew T. Gray, Bartlesville, Okla, assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 358,027

2 Claims. (Cl. 2297) This invention relates to a container. In another aspect, it relates to a box or package for cigarettes or the like.

In the art of packaging cigarettes, a move has been made in recent years by many manufacturers from the so-called soft pack to the so-called hard-pack because the latter minimizes the crushing of cigarettes and has the other advantages. While a number of these hard pack cigarette boxes or packages have been proposed or used, they have not been entirely satisfactory because their designs necessitate high fabrication costs and their closures are not dependable or rugged.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved container. Another object is to provide an improved box or package for cigarettes or the like. A further object is to provide an improved cigarette box which can be fabricated at relatively low costs and which has a dependable rugged closure. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a .preferred embodiment of the novel box of this invention with its closure in its closed position; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of FIGURE 1, in partial cross section, showing certain details thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, the improved container of this invention has the general form of a flat oblong box, comprising a tubular body formed by two oppositely disposed side wall panels 1 and two oppositely disposed edge wall panels 2 (all of these panels being rectangular with all of their vertical edges parallel, and of the same length), a bottom or base 3 and a separate cap or lid 4. The base 3 and cap 4, in the embodiment shown in the drawing, are separately fabricated and fit over or are glued or heat-sealed to the lower and top edges of the body, respectively.

Cap 4 has a generally rectangular opening 6, said opening being defined by a partial cutting in the top thereof to permit the withdrawal of cigarettes or other contents from the box. This opening 6 is preferably set back from the edges of cap 4 and disposed in one-half of the top thereof near one edge. Opening 6 is normally closed by a generally rectangular, recloseable closure flap 7 which is permanently integral at its back edge 8 with cap 4, said back edge being the axis of a permanently integral hinge which permits flap 7 to swing upwardly to expose opening 6 and to swing downwardly into opening 6 to close such opening. Flap 7 is also initially integral at its front edge 9 and side edges 11 with cap 4 by reason of a web 12 formed by the uncut portion of the plastic covering opening 6, which is readily and permanently ruptured when said flap is initially lifted upward. In order to assist the rupture of web 12 and permit flap 7 to be swung upwardly when it is desired to withdraw the contents from the box, the flap is provided with a tab 13 which projects from the front edge 9 of the flap in the same plane thereof. Tab 13 is adapted to fit in a corresponding cut-out portion 14 in the cap 4 which forms part of said opening 6. Tab 13 is preferably semi-circular and disposed in the center of the front edge 9 of the flap 7, and the tab can be a little thicker at its furthest extremity. In order to further assist the rupture of web 12 and the lifting of flap 7, the top edge of cut-out portion 14 can be recessed a little, in the form of a depression 16, to permit entry of ones fingernail and the exertion of pressure on the edge of tab 13.

Upon rupture of web 12, the residual web material will render the mating edges of opening 6 and flap 7 somewhat rough, and this will aid in the positive closure obtained when the flap is snapped shut. The broken lines designated 7 in FIGURE 2 illustrate the position of the flap when it is lifted upward.

The material used in fabricating cap 4, with its integral flap 7, is preferably a semi-rigid plastic, and this material with the particular configuration of the closure shown will further insure a positive closure when the flap is snapped shut. I prefer to fabricate the cap, with its integral flap, by molding it, the particular mold used resulting in the formation of the web as flash material. The base of the container is also preferably molded from such plastic material and the body is preferably formed from a sheet of plastic or plastic-coated paper turned about itself and glued in the form of a tube. In assembling the cap, body, and base, the base overlaps the corresponding bottom of the body and is glued thereto. The cigarettes or other contents are preferably loaded in the container formed by the assembled body and base before similarly gluing the cap to the top of the body, Cigarettes can be encased in aluminum foil or the like before insertion in the box, though one of the advantages of this invention is that such foil is not necessary to maintain the desired condition of the contents because of the positive, tight closure. After the box is loaded and the cap glued to the body, with the flap initially all integral with the cap, the box can be protected with conventional cellophane overwrap or other protective material, if desired, though again an advantage of this invention is that such overwrap is not necessary because of said positive, tight closure. The thickness of the pieces of the box can vary, a suitable thickness being 4 to 8 mils, with a suitable thickness for the web being 2 to S mils.

If desired, the body and base of the novel box of this invention can be made in one piece, that is they can be made integral, by vacuum forming, thermoforming, molding, or otherwise fabricating plastic material or the like. Alternatively, the base and body portion can be made from paper, plastic material, or plastic-coated paperboard. In fabricating the box, well-known means can be used to mold, emboss or otherwise afiix ornamentation, lettering, etc.

The plastic materials that I prefer to use in fabricating the box of this invention are semi-rigid olefin polymers, such as those prepared according to Hogan et al. in US. Patent No. 2,825,721. Representative plastic materials are polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene and l-butene, polystyrene and the like. I prefer to make the cap out of an ethylene polymer with a density of 0.950 to 0.970 g./ cc. and make the base out of an ethylene polymer with a lower density, e.g., 0.920 to 0.945 g./cc. In Table I, set forth below, I have set forth the properties of representative plastic materials which I prefer to use in fabricating the base and cap and in coating the paper used in fabricating the body of the novel box of this invention.

front edge of said flap and integral therewith, said cap having a complementary cut out portion to accommodate said tab when said flap is in its closed position.

TABLE I Cap Base Plastic used in coating paper body Polymer Ethylene-l-butene Polyethylene Polyethylene Property:

Density, g./oc., ASTM D 1505-57T 0.950 0. 922 0, 955 Melt index, g./l0 min, ASTM D 1238-52T--- 0.3 7. 8 12. 0 Environmental stress cracking, hr., F.5u,

ASTM D 1693-601 250 2 Temp. strength, 20in./min., p.s.i., ASTM D 412-511 3, 800 1, 800 3, 600 Impact strength, ft. lb./in., ASTM D 256-56. 4. 0 1 Softening temp, F., ASTM D 1525-58T.-- 255 245 Brittleness temp., F., ASTM D 46-55 180 -105 100 Stiffness, p.S.i., ASTM D 747-50 115, 000 9, 000 140, 000

Various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawing without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention is not to be limited unduly to that set forth herein for illustrative purposes.

I claim:

1. A flat oblong box for cigarettes or the like, comprising a body formed by two side wall panels and two edge wall panels; a bottom attached to the lower end of said body; a semi-rigid plastic cap attached to the upper end of said body; a recloseable, generally rectangular closure flap formed by a continuous cut line penetrating partly through the material of said cap and permanently integral at its back edge with said cap and pivotally hinged at said back edge thereto and initially integral at its other edges with said cap by reason of the web formed by unpenetrated material beneath said cut line, said Web being readily and permanently ruptured when said flap is initially lifted upward, said flap having a tab projecting from the 20 2. A box according to claim 1 wherein the web when ruptured has roughened edges to maintain a positive closure when said fiap is in its closed position.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 613,023 1/1961 Canada.

40 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FLAT OBLONG BOX FOR CIGARETTES OR THE LIKE, COMPRISING A BODY FORMED BY TWO SIDE WALL PANELS AND TWO EDGE WALL PANELS; A BOTTOM ATTACHED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID BODY; A SEMI-RIGID PLASTIC CAP ATTACHED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID BODY; A RECLOSEABLE, GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CLOSURE FLAP FORMED BY A CONTINUOUS CUT LINE PENETRATING PARTLY THROUGH THE MATERIAL OF SAID CAP AND PERMANENTLY INTEGRAL AT ITS BACK EDGE WITH SAID CAP AND PIVOTALLY HINGED AT SAID BACK EDGE THERETO AND INITIALLY INYEGRAL AT ITS OTHER EDGES WITH SAID CAP BY REASON OF THE WEB FORMED BY UNPENETRATED MATERIAL BENEATH SAID CUT LINE, SAID WEB BEING READILY AND PERMANENTLY REPTURED WHEN SAID FLAP IS INTIALLY LIFTED UPWARD, SAID FLAP HAVING A TAB PROJECTING FROM THE FRONT EDGE OF SAID FLAP AND INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID CAP HAVING A COMPLEMENTARY CUT OUT PORTION TO ACCOMMODATE SAID TAB WHEN SAID FLAP IS IN ITS CLOSED POSITION. 